I was going to pin this thread, but apparently only admins can. Unless it's not obvious on the moderator panel.

Good thread, though, and some good points, inlcuding one or two I feel I should remember in future. Thank you.
I love being a mod and being able to check IPs and who else has posted from the same IP... heh heh heh. But Luke's right, you didn't need to hide it._________________"S*P*Q*R"

if someone ignores your suggestion, it doesnt mean your time was wasted. there's 2 reasons, one of them being for all you know a suggestion helped indirectly, but also, and i think this is the main reason there's anyone in here, is criticizing a comic exercises your brain. it can help you to hone your own talents. it can also be used as a secret self critique - for example, if you find yourself telling people to write snappier dialogue more than a couple times, might be a hint that you should work on that too_________________Riotfish

If a comic is beyond help, I mean really awful, just don't say anything. Silence is enough for them to get the hint and they will likely give up in a few weeks anyway.

That's rather unhelpful. Such advice potentially makes people feel like pariahs and it is quite frankly an erroneous assumption. If you don't come from a culture like the Midwestern United States where the silent treatment is a hint or punishment, this can backfire horribly. A person might interpret this as being personal or as a tacit way of saying, "it's okay, you don't need help," or worse, "we hate you for some reason we will not disclose." As a person who has created works that are supposedly beyond help (apparently -- based on the logic presented here,) I would rather get a, "Hey, maybe you should look at this tutorial on lettering/scanning/etc," or "I'm not feeling this," than silence. In fact, as I read that silent treatment advice, I actually felt horrible for not giving more feedback to people met with crickets. My schedule sucks, but now I feel like maybe I should make time to provide this courtesy.

I was the autistic kid in the playground who got shunned because I didn't have a clue about what people were saying to me. It breaks my heart that folks have to go through this as adults.

This is a very, very wise post. I wish there was more of this on the internet.

That is a terrible idea. There are MANY webcomics out there that are ten time more popular then anything you will ever create.... and the great thing is... the art is terrible! Look at xkcd.. that is some crappiest art I have ever seen, but that dude makes a ton of money doing what he does!

Just because you don't like a comic doesn't mean there aren't millions of people out there just waiting for the chance to read it.

I'd like to echo vaslittlecrow's sentiment. I came to this forum not looking for advertising but for advice. I put up my comic, asked for critiques and waited.

I've gotten four responses in all. Two concerning the fact my comic looked "pixellated" (which to be honest I couldn't see, but I adjusted things anyway) but said nothing about story, anatomy, pacing, or the other rather important things one needs to know when assembling a comic. One response was about the fact I'd hosted on webcomicsnation, and how this is bad. Which I'll grant but, not being made of money and having only so many hours in a day, is not something I can fix immediately. I'm working on it, though.

Only one response - ONE - actually took the time to advise me on the comic itself, what I did right, what I did wrong. But from anyone else who looked at the comic - nothing. Silence.

It's not just here. Nobody's commented on Webcomicsnation, comments are scarce and generic on deviantArt, even my real life friends say nothing. It's enough to make me wonder. Why won't I get the critiques I so obviously need? Is it the webcomicsnation albatross hanging from my comic's neck? Is the story so awful that nobody wants to say anything? Is it because I haven't yet mastered the art of consistent updates? Is it my politics? My body odour? What?

I can learn nothing from silence.

Admittedly, I rather stink at giving feedback, although in my defense it is more along the lines of "I'm new to comic-making so I don't think I'm qualified enough to give feedback". Either that or I run into a comic that makes me want to scream at the creator and that is just not helpful. That said, I will try to give some constructive feedback in future and hope I get the notes right. Beyond that, there's nothing more I can do.

I'd like to echo vaslittlecrow's sentiment. I came to this forum not looking for advertising but for advice. I put up my comic, asked for critiques and waited.

I've gotten four responses in all. Two concerning the fact my comic looked "pixellated" (which to be honest I couldn't see, but I adjusted things anyway) but said nothing about story, anatomy, pacing, or the other rather important things one needs to know when assembling a comic. One response was about the fact I'd hosted on webcomicsnation, and how this is bad. Which I'll grant but, not being made of money and having only so many hours in a day, is not something I can fix immediately. I'm working on it, though.

Only one response - ONE - actually took the time to advise me on the comic itself, what I did right, what I did wrong. But from anyone else who looked at the comic - nothing. Silence.

It's not just here. Nobody's commented on Webcomicsnation, comments are scarce and generic on deviantArt, even my real life friends say nothing. It's enough to make me wonder. Why won't I get the critiques I so obviously need? Is it the webcomicsnation albatross hanging from my comic's neck? Is the story so awful that nobody wants to say anything? Is it because I haven't yet mastered the art of consistent updates? Is it my politics? My body odour? What?

I can learn nothing from silence.

Admittedly, I rather stink at giving feedback, although in my defense it is more along the lines of "I'm new to comic-making so I don't think I'm qualified enough to give feedback". Either that or I run into a comic that makes me want to scream at the creator and that is just not helpful. That said, I will try to give some constructive feedback in future and hope I get the notes right. Beyond that, there's nothing more I can do.

I agree, but I also disagree. Sometimes you have to sell your comic even when you aren't trying to make money. When want someone to give you feedback you need to throw that term in their face and predefine what you expect in terms of feed back.

I get where you are coming from though.. I get a lot of feedback, but it is because my comic is very disruptive. Some people hate it and others like it.... either way... remember.. even if you are only looking to make your comic better (not trying to sell it) you still have to sell it._________________